Even the best NDPP will still face structural constraints if reform is not enacted - Mavuso
With six candidates having been shortlisted for possible appointment as the next National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busi Mavuso has stressed how critical this appointment is for business.
"The selection panel for the position must choose a candidate with prosecutorial experience and integrity, but structural reforms are essential to empower whoever is appointed," she cautions.
President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a committee to select the next NDPP as the current incumbent Shamila Batohi is set to retire next year.
Batohi has spent the last seven years rebuilding an institution that was deeply compromised by State capture, Mavuso explains; however, structural constraints limit what any NDPP can achieve under the current framework.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) differs fundamentally from other institutions that were compromised by State capture. Mavuso mentions that the South African Revenue Service (Sars) has been able to recover more fully, in part because of structural advantages that the NPA lacks.
The Sars Commissioner has genuine authority over the organisation: he is the accounting authority, effectively the CEO, with the power to hire and fire senior staff. The appointment process for the Sars Commissioner was revised after the Nugent Commission to strengthen independence, though the President retains final decision authority.
In contrast, the NDPP does not have this independence or authority. The director-general of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is the accounting authority for the NPA, not the NDPP.
"The prerogative over senior appointments sits with the Justice Minister and the President, a power which, in the history of our democracy, has been invoked for good and ill. The NDPP is appointed for a non-renewable ten-year term, longer than the Sars Commissioner's renewable five-year term. Yet tellingly, no NDPP has ever completed a full term," Mavuso says.
The six-member NDPP selection panel is chaired by Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, with members including Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke and South African Human Rights Commission chair Andrew Nissen, forming an experienced and credible group to guide the selection.
"They must make a wise decision, choosing someone with deep integrity and the skills to lead a complex organisation dealing with everything from organised crime to grand corruption. The next NDPP will need proven prosecutorial experience, the ability to rebuild institutional capacity and the courage to pursue justice without fear or favour," Mavuso reiterates.
She continues that the new NDPP can only exercise powers available within the current framework and that reform is needed. The NDPP ought to have the authority to reshape the organisation into an independent and highly competent one.
"This means granting the NDPP real control over senior appointments, making them the accounting authority responsible for the NPA's performance, and insulating prosecutorial decisions from political interference. Without these structural reforms, even the best appointment will face the same constraints that have affected previous NDPPs," Mavuso highlights.
The shortlisted NDPP candidates - Advocates Nicolette Bell, Hermoine Cronje, Andrea Johnson, Xolisile Khanyile, Adrian Mopp and Menzi Simelane, will be interviewed for the position on December 10 and 11.
BROADER ISSUE
Mavuso says the damage that State capture inflicted on the NPA is still visible in failed prosecutions.
She explains that the R2.2-billion corruption case against former Eskom boss Matshela Koko and others was struck off the roll in November 2023 owing to unreasonable delays.
The case against Moroadi Cholota, co-accused with former Free State Premier Ace Magashule, collapsed when a judge found the State had presented false information to US authorities to secure her extrad...

Ver todos los episodios